In Disguise
by Sir Heroden
Summary: The Gods love challenges. But how much will Zeus regret his decision to swap identities with Hades and look after the Underworld for a day? A story containing difficult decisions, dead people, damnable discoveries and Cereal. Humour. ON HIATUS.
1. A Holiday

**AN: I hope you guys enjoy my first time publishing a more humorous story… fav and review for me please~**

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Gods by nature were proud and haughty beings.

But even they knew that sometimes it was just better to back down. After all, even our immortal lords and ladies had their own form of power hierarchy. And when one of the Big Three was storming down the high street of Olympus, the best thing was to just bow your head and scamper away.

Even the guards stationed at the entrance to the throne room, who usually got a daily dose of pride from turning away attention seekers, hurriedly swung open the doors for the newcomer, dipping their heads in respect.

"Zeus!" Hades bellowed as he stormed into the throne room of Olympus.

A few minor gods clustered around the doorway scattered in a hurry, waving away the coiling wisps of shadow that usually accompanied the god of the dead, and nearly tripping over in their haste to get to the relative safety of a group of their peers who suddenly found the ground most interesting to look at.

A blue robed god kneeling before the mighty platinum throne at the head of the room turned to complain, but then thought better of it. He sneaked a glance up at his king, who gave him a glare so fierce that he slid back in his knees to a same distance.

Zeus stood now, his thirty foot figure casting a shadow that might have been seen as an eclipse in the mortal world, "Hades. What do you want?"

"I need to talk to you, brother." Hades scowled, "Privately."

The King of the Gods held his brother's furious gaze for a moment before making a decision.

"Everyone out!" he thundered.

The minor gods and courtiers filed out in a relatively orderly fashion and as the sixty foot doors closed with a fatal boom, Zeus stepped down from the dais and came to stand before his brother.

"Now… What do you need, Hades?"

While their relationship was better than it had ever been after the Giant War, Hades still felt an instinctive sense of unease whenever Zeus came near. He hoped his brother didn't feel the same way- he didn't need another suit ruined by lightning. He decided to ditch the fancy speech he'd prepared the get straight to the point.

"I need a holiday," He said.

"Pardon?"

"I need a break," the Lord of the Dead ran a hand through his hair and sighed dramatically, "I've worked my ass off looking after the dreary place for like a billion years. I just want a day off."

Zeus lifted an eyebrow, "Don't exaggerate. You're only like three thousand years old."

His brother couldn't help but grin, "Nice to know I still look young. But I still want a day off. Zeus- just a single day."

"And who do you suppose will look after the Underworld while you're on your little holiday?"

Hades grinned, a creepy expression, and pointed at his startled brother, "You, of course!"

"Me? Are you mad?"

"Of course not! I think you're taking on too little responsibility as our king," Hades waved a hand wearily at the decorated hall, "Too busy basking in the glory of your workers."

Zeus started to complain, "My job is hard! _My_ subjects all have their own minds. And my throne is _really_ uncomfortable, I'm getting blisters on my ass from-"

"Too much information, little brother." Hades cut in, "Look, it doesn't matter anyways. You don't have it in you to go down to the big scary Underworld anyways."

The king of the gods looked annoyed and even more so when his brother added, "Mother always said you were the weakest one."

Now if one was to manipulate a god, the best and sometimes only way to do so was through their ego. It seemed that the more powerful the god, the bigger the ego. Zeus, supposedly the most powerful of the gods, could never bear anyone making fun of him. The last guy that made fun of him had quickly become one of the most popular lightning rods in the world.

There was loud crack of thunder from outside and Zeus stomped his foot in anger, "Fine! I will go and look after that hell you call your domain for a day. One day, Hades! No more."

"No, it's too difficult for you. We wouldn't want to put the great and mighty king in danger."

"Hades… Don't make fun of me. I will go down there and look after your stupid realm for a day. And then I shall come back and tell you how easy it was."

His brother turned and raised an eyebrow in mock surprise, "If you can truthfully tell me that then you might even have my respect for the next few decades."

"Is that a bet?"

"A challenge."

"Very well then." The lord of the sky looked thoughtful for a moment, "But I'm afraid that your Underlings shall tremble before me and if will be too easy."

Hades inclined his head to hide a smirk, "Oh yes, your name is feared through the lands of Hades. Your very presence, if known, shall make even the rebellious of souls meek. The only way to solve this is for us to swap forms for a day."

"Swap forms?"

"Yes."

"Very well then. But we shall have to swear on the Styx that we do not misuse each other's powers."

Hades nodded and with that the brothers clasped arms to seal the deal.

Tomorrow was going to be very interesting. Very interesting indeed.

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 **AN: I don't normally write more light hearted pieces, so please let me know how it went. Thanks!**


	2. A Rude Awakening

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Ding! Ding! Ding!

Dong! Dong! Dong!

Zeus bolted awake and threw the sheets off him. Who _dared_ to disturb his sleep? He was the mighty king of the gods- oh wait, he was Hades for the day. Dammit.

Contrary to popular belief, gods did sleep. Sure, they didn't need sleep. But why pass on the opportunity to rest, especially after seducing beautiful women? Zeus was particularly fond of sleeping, so fond that once he accidently slept for a century.

Anyways…

Bringing his awareness back to the present, the god tried to look dignified as a group of skeletons entered carrying a basin of water and various clothing garments. One of the damned servants was carrying a gong- a freaking gong, for god's sake!

A tall winged man followed gracefully behind them, clad in full battle armour and holding a shiny black Ipad.

 _Gods, was everything in this damned place dark coloured?_

"My lord? Shall I begin?" The man said. "Good news today."

Zeus noted that his voice was probably the most melodious he'd ever heard, soothing and calming. The kind of voice that mortals give to Death in those Hollywood movies. Not that he watched many, mind you.

"Thanatos?" Realisation struck him.

"Sir?"

Zeus climbed out of bed and the skeletons got to work immediately, brushing every inch of his body with wet clothes and dressing him. The god just moved automatically, letting the servants drape a long black robe over him. _This colour scheme is going to drive me mad_ , he thought.

"Nothing. Just say what you were going to say."

Hades' general nodded, "I'm pleased to report that yesterday was particularly peaceful, with only one hundred and fifty thousand new arrivals."

"That many dead people?"

Thanatos eyed him suspiciously for a moment, "Sir, we should take this as good news. It means that you only have…" He paused to glance at the device in his hand, "…four hundred and thirty seven thousand eight hundred and twenty one reports to look over. Not bad considering it used to be four hundred-"

"That many reports? Are you kidding?!" Zeus couldn't help but thunder. The shadows in the room swirled at his rage and the entire castle shook.

"No, sir. I don't 'kid'." Thanatos dipped his head respectfully. "Also, the prince arrived last night."

"Who?"

"Your son, Nico?"

Zeus paused for a moment. He vaguely remembered the some words promising vengeance spoken to him by Hades nearly a century ago. Or what it less?

The boy's name was familiar. With a start he recalled the overwhelming anger when Hades refused to hand over the two children to him. The rage that fuelled his striking that hotel with lightning.

He'd never considered he was killing someone's mother then. Normally gods always justified their actions, no matter how ridiculous the reason. But he remembered the contribution and sacrifice this boy had made in the Giant War a few months back, and felt a trace of guilt poke at his normally untouched pride.

He definitely couldn't bear to face the boy right now.

"How is he?" Zeus asked instead, still getting used to Hades' voice, which was higher than his.

"Fine. Worn out, but still alive." Thanatos reassured him, "Now, shall we get to looking at reports?"

Zeus nodded, pushing aside thought of the boy for a moment. Strange how there wasn't much paperwork in Olympus, he had to grudgingly admit that his brother actually did more work that he thought.

Anyhow, now there was work to be done.

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The office was very dark, and Zeus found himself almost tripping over. He was never going to get used to this darkness thing.

For god's sake, he probably wasn't going to get used to this working thing either. Nevertheless he steeled himself and sat down at the desk, which trembled under the weight of thousands upon thousands of reports.

Well, the quicker he started, the quicker he finished, right?

Sighing, Zeus went to stroke his beard, and the realised that he didn't have one. Nothing was going in his favour today. So angry was he that when a skeleton guard poked his head around the doorway he reduced it to a pile of dust with a wave of his hand.

The king of the gods flipped over the first report and read the title.

 _Theodore Justin Planks. 27. Fields._

Great, he couldn't help but chuckled at the mortal's ridiculous name. Then he stopped. This guy only lived for twenty seven years- that was like the blink of an eye for gods. It reminded him suddenly of his own children throughout the ages, and that out of the hundreds of them, perhaps only a dozen had lived past that age.

I supposed you could call it an epiphany, but it suddenly struck the mighty king of the gods how disconnected he had been like the mortals he ruled over. He had never considered them as individuals, only hordes of ants that could on some occasions think a bit on their own.

How strange that thought was- it made him almost guilty to have thrown so many temper tantrums just to have to satisfaction of seeing the huge storms they caused.

Moving on…

 _Cause of death: Car accident. Notes: Electrician. Single. Graduated high school. Favourite subject was art. Went to a campaign for human rights two years ago…_

It went on and on. Who knew each individual human being had so much information and background to them? Gods, he was getting a headache and he hadn't even got to the second dead person's report.

At the bottom of the page was the words "Fields" written in very fancy script and a single line under it. Zeus looked at for a moment and came to the conclusion that it was left for him to sign.

He had just looped out a Z when he realised that he'd signed the wrong name. Dammit!

"Is there a photocopier somewhere in this damned castle?!" he roared, banging on the table.

A trembling ghost drifted in, "Photocopier, my lord?"

Zeus nearly vaporised the guy there and then, but he bit back his anger and explained, "I wrote the wrong thing. How do I get rid of it?" He gritted out.

"Errr…. Put a line through it?" The ghost suggested nervously.

"Dare you take me for a child-"

He was livid now, pointing at the ghost and about to make him disappear forever when suddenly Thanatos appeared in the centre of the room with a loud bang.

"My lord, I beg your pardon." The god of death remained calm under his glare, "But a group of monsters has escaped from the Underworld and is intent on running rampage in the mortal world."

"Well, go round them up!" Zeus shouted, seeing the ghost clerk scuttle away in the corner of his eye.

Thanatos bowed, "My aura is stretched too thin already, sir. I'm here to ask you for aid."

"I have reports to look over! Go and find some troops to do the work for you."

"They have gone into the _mortal_ world. Do you want me to send-"

"Yes! Send them! Quickly, and get out of my sight!"

The other god nodded and disappeared. Zeus sat down again and massaged his temples. This day was not going well, and it had only just started. _Well,_ he thought, _it can only get better from here, right?_

How wrong he would be…

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 **AN: Please review and favourite! Another update next week! Send me any ideas you have also along with those reviews!**


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